Japanese Otsue-e imagery comes to Paris, via a historic trade route

If you think Japanese comics are a 20th-century thing, think again. Otsu-e paintings are the spontaneous, throwaway sketches bought by 17th-century travellers as a souvenir and their graphic style has trickled down into contemporary art forms, too.

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The Maison du Japon in Paris is now hosting the first major Otsu-e exhibition in Europe. FRANCE 24 met fifth-generation painter Shozan Takahasi at the show's opening.